What Left of Us
by Brionacs
Summary: Novel Spoiler. As the two l'Cie clashed, once again, the time of judgment draws near. /implied MachiRem if you squint very hard/


**First of all, FF Type-0 belongs to Square Enix, I am only taking ideas for fanfiction.**

**OKAY GUYS GUYS GUYS. So I've got a friend who lived in Yokohama for a while moved in to my house just around a week ago. Good thing is, he brought Type-0 novel with him. Both of 'em. And holy shit, he translated the whole thing to me as I just nod at every explanation inside of the book that he told me. I… am just at loss at words at the lore of this game. Also, he helped me translate the game's encyclopedia as well, mainly the playable characters. I gotta say, I'll put a brief description here before you continue reading this.**

**Sadly, the novel ISN'T canon due to it takes place on the 600.104.971st 'cycle', while the actual game takes place on the 600.104.972nd 'cycle'. I am kinda liking the characters interaction, and I am not going to joke, Jack had taken his honorable spot on my 3rd favorite male character. JAAAAAAAAACK~~. Also! Kurasame was a l'Cie, _freaking _l'Cie for Etro sake.**

**The Class Zero's 'dreams' were absolutely beautiful and touching. I am very okay the ship tease between A2, 35, and 84 from it. The novel need moar Kurasame, though.**

**Okay, you've read that already? Because I am going to put some of them in this fic. Onward!**

**/first try in writing combats and action-y scenes, blerp.**

* * *

**What Left of Us**

A flame engrossed the already red-hot wasteland. Thousands of bodies laid as lifeless as bunch of ragdolls as the howling thunder clashed against one another significantly on the side. The only other thing that could be heard was the sound effects of weapons sparking against each other through the damp atmosphere of the zone. As another trail of blood dripped over his already-red forehead, Ace grabbed another piece of card between his index finger and middle finger before he rushed once against at the man before him.

Machina Kunagiri stood perforated enigmaticly, gripping his Excalibur on his hand.

…

The situation had never been worse. They were once standing on the same side together, protecting each other's back from any notorious event should it happened. However, after months of resisting against the dark tyranny of Cid Aulstyne's Milites, Class Zero was slowly torned away from each other. At first, it was Queen who had to sacrifice herself. No sooner, Trey and Cinque… And not before long, Eight left the group as well. Deuce, Seven and Nine followed their path against their liking. And then… The one girl's death, where everything changed into a much worse situation.

Rem Tokimiya had fallen.

It wasn't exactly the best destiny that Ace and the rest could take. They lost their comrade one by one, depowering themselves nonchalantly, and of course… Lost the smiles that keep them together as a group. Machina Kunagiri, however, took the news worse than the rest. He was bruised and battered already, but when the harsh reality dawned on him, he lost his stability and he went on a mindless rampage. At first, the survivors of Class Zero tried to stop him, but Machina simply shoo them away, involving his weapon in their already-ruined conversations. Before long, Machina Kunagiri turned his back away from them, stepping his own path for his own conclusion.

Losing another comrade was not an easy thing to take, but King and Jack had managed to push everyone's determination once again. Grabbing every piece of energy that they still had in their deepest mind, once again, the Peristylium Suzaku's last trump card joined the fray.

They fought very well with the qualities and quantities that they possessed, putting judgment on every Milites that they encountered for days. Luckily, they could see that the Milites were decreasing in power, especially in the case of their amounts. Nobody knew what had happened on the Milites' side, nor should they care about it. They could barely survive from that already-decreased power of Milites, after all.

What happened two days after that was beyond everyone's prediction. News aired quickly through the battlefield that Cid had left the fights in his demise. Irony, since they one that put Cid on his last breath was another man in Byakko military uniform, for it seemed that the dictator was betrayed. While the whole Peristylium was cheering about the end of their enemy's commander, the remaining of Class Zero didn't. They recognized that figure, no matter how different his clothing was. They recognized that cloak, no matter how different the color was. They recognized that blades, no matter how much blood had covered its' metallic surface.

It was Machina. _That_ Machina Kunagiri.

Soon, news followed that the now l'Cie of Byakko was starting to slay down every living creature on the battlefield relentlessly, whether it was from his side or his enemy side. This fact itself already put another pressure on both recipient of the war. Not before long, the one man army Machina was standing on top of piles of combining bodies of Suzaku's and Byakko's soldiers before the young soldiers with red cape.

"Sad, isn't it?" Machina stated coldly, slowly removing the tiger-shaped mask from his face. Beneath the mask, a wicked smile was glued to his face. The once determined green eyes of him were replaced with no other but red eyes, completed with emotionless, robotic stare. "How these people below me died already but you guys haven't yet?"

It didn't need to take a genius to figure this out from the way Machina presented himself in front of them. He was going to include them in the list of his prey. They gulped, swallowing their fears under the man's intimidating figure. The group had long acknowledged that fighting a l'Cie was not a walk in the park, but when the said l'Cie was one of their friends? Ten times harder.

That assumption was not left as a mere assumption. Machina was already a strong fighter before he was a l'Cie. In the single breath, his drill-shaped sword had pierced _both_ Ace's and Jack's stomach as the others couldn't actually see what was happening just now; Machina had moved in a blinding speed. Obviously, that wasn't the only thing he aimed. After throwing the two limp bodies out of his swords, Machina outrageously rushed after Cater, King, and Sice with the same level of quickness, soon overpowering them with notable gap on their power. The three of them tried to resist with barrage of attacks, but Machina simply hoisted his cloak to create an invisible barrier that blocked their attacks.

Before long, the Class Zero was nonexistent, crawling under the dark-haired man's shoes, breathing their last breaths.

Or at least that was what Machina had thought at first, since there was actually someone that was being very stubborn; who was no other than the leader of the Operation Apostles, Ace himself. Even with the pool of blood on his entire entity, Ace still managed to get his legs to hold his body upright. The card wielder gasped, letting out a stream of bloods from his lips as Machina watched in amusement. After wiping the blood on his mouth with his free hand, while the other holding the cards tightly, Ace then glared at Machina with both distrusts and angers.

"Well?" Machina let out an unfriendly chuckle as he rested one of his twin swords on his shoulder, eyeing the wounded Ace with a condescending grin. "Don't blame me, Ace. I've tried to make things as fast and as painless as possible."

Ace was planning to keep his glares at Machina, but his vision was soon starting to get blurrier. As his sight narrowed, the corner of his eyes still managed to scan Machina's legs, which was starting to move towards him.

Machina hadn't reached him yet, but Ace's eyes were almost fully enveloped by darkness as his legs failed to enforce his body to stand. His small body was slowly slipping down like a log, his eyes once again captured a part of Machina's brutal smirk.

As Ace clenched his teeth in despair, the unexpected happened.

His body never touched the hard rubble of the area, instead he felt something… cold behind his head, capturing him before he slammed the floor up. Unimaginable surprises were sent into both of the young men's mind as the dark haired one was caught by surprise for once, his barrier failed to protect an incoming attack.

Before them, the sole, remaining l'Cie of Rubrum, Kurasame Susaya had joined the fight, siding himself with the Class Zero's survivor. When did Kurasame had come and where did he had come from were two questions left unanswered for Machina as the masked man swung his blade at Machina's unguarded back, sending him flying to the side.

"Ace." As soon as Kurasame got the chance to do it, he passed a bottle of X-Potion at Ace, and then chased after Machina's body without further words. Ace could obtain it hardly at his current condition, but he succeeded nonetheless, slowly drinking the restorative liquid.

The color of Ace's eyes and skin were coming back to life. With one blink, Ace rose from the ice platform that Kurasame had created before, and helped Kurasame in his work. Despite having a lesser number than before, both Ace and Kurasame managed to push Machina back. Distress was visible on Machina's façade every time Kurasame launched an attack. His teacher was no pushover, nor he would ever be. Machina was an excellent swordsman, yes, but Kurasame towered him in that department; He was more experienced, he was faster, he was more powerful.

No, Kurasame owned him in general. Machina couldn't block his lightning-speed slashes with his swords despite him having two against Kurasame's single one, and he couldn't summon his barrier, as every time he tried to grab his white-colored cloak to call the shield, Kurasame would notice his movement with his eyes and then prevented him to do that at any cost. Machina had conceded that the blue haired man of Four Heavenly Kings before him was stronger than him before, but he was a l'Cie now despite how Kurasame himself was made one as well.

Kurasame… still made him look like a little girl in comparison with him.

"Too slow."

One single word from Kurasame's covered mouth, and Machina was left open once again. Kurasame attacked once again, his cold sword hitting his side, smacking the sword by his left hand away. Furthermore, before Machina could even show his surprise, another slash followed through, presumably would leave a deep scar on Machina's body.

For a second, Machina let out a pained howl, before Ace's cards followed the combos. Kurasame's attacks were focused, and Ace's were propagated, leaving Machina to be nothing but a sandbag of their unending offense. After what seemed like hundreds of attacks already, Kurasame kicked Machina's figure further away to let himself and Ace catch a breath.

"Ace." Despite his panting beneath his blue mask, Kurasame still managed to speak in a calm tone. "Buy me some time, should he come after me again."

Ace stared at his mentor for a while before giving a nod of agreement. Sure, they were getting the upper hand here, but Machina was not to be underestimated, as a l'Cie or not, and Ace knew that Kurasame was not the type to underestimate his opponent. Approaching in some sort of teleportation, Ace launched bunch of quickly-casted Blizzara SHGs, rupturing Machina's concentration to rise on his feet and summon the impenetrable barrier, while the grey-blue haired warrior was distancing himself from the rains of magic by Ace, closing his eyes to concentrate some power on his right palm.

The young leader of Operation Apostles didn't exactly know what his teacher had in mind, but he believed in him to do something that would turn the tides of this… unnecessary battle. Ace kept attacking his once best friend's restless body with full force, occasionally mixing some card throwing at him while casting some magic with another hand. Machina, on the other hand, couldn't do anything but let out painful groans at Ace's attacks, due to deep wounds that both Kurasame and Ace had already inflicted on his body.

Five minutes passed, Ace was still surprising Machina with dozens of cards and magics while Kurasame stirred a bit from his position. In a flash, his eyes fluttered open, staring directly at his foe. Hard sweats and panting enveloped his whole face as the Class Zero's teacher extended his right arm upward.

"Ace!"

Ace snapped of his reverie from mauling Machina right at the moment. As Kurasame's order reached his ears, he quickly backstepped, teleporting three times to gain a reasonable distance from Machina's beaten up figure. With his card still in his finger, Ace stole a glance at whatever Kurasame had planned.

"Ultimate End."

Unlike how he called Ace loudly just now, this time Kurasame chanted in a much calmer, deliberate tone. As he shifted his right arm that was on the air before to point at the spot where Machina laid helplessly, the crimson stained sky just before them was cracked open. While Ace and Machina had bowled over in surprise, a giant armored knight with a sword came through the void, landing itself just on the already-wasted rubble on the side. Ace couldn't hold his surprise as every second passed, while Machina was not very fortunate, since the giant knight bashed him with the huge, teal-colored longsword.

If Machina thought that was already bad, he was wrong, since after that one knight, came another and another, each of them tried to destroy him with different weapons and magics. Machina's screams of pain echoed on the wasteland, reaching their loudest one at the moment the thirteenth knight finished scraping its' gigantic sword at him. Machina couldn't tell anymore whether he still had his legs, or his arms on his body after all that. High chances that, every inches of his muscle had been roughly cut by the thing that Kurasame had summoned.

As Machina's scream of agony had ended, so did Kurasame's attempt to stay standing with his feet.

Letting out gasps, the young teacher kneeled powerlessly after his summons' given time had ended. Ace, considering that Machina wouldn't stand for a duration of time, quickly dashed to Kurasame's side, giving him a hand before he might fall to the ground. Ace was about to charge a Curaga against Kurasame's limp body when the blue haired man hold his hand out, stopping Ace's initial plan.

"Don't. It will make no change."

Once again, Ace was about to object to that, but Kurasame proved his sentence right. Ace's eyes widened at the sight, slowly reaching the peak of his horror.

Kurasame's feet were already crystallizing.

"Professor Kurasame—No!" He begged desperately. No, no, no, no, no! He had lost all his comrade, and he was fighting _to_ lost another comrade, and Ace just couldn't have his superior, that he looked up to, lost as well. No- On the first place, **WHY**? Even without summoning and, presumably, finishing his Focus, Kurasame probably could take on Machina singlehandedly. Ace hadn't let his single tear dropped even when Machina killed his friend right before his eyes, but he could hardly hold it out at this moment.

"…Why…"

His question was out of his mouth in some sort of whimper. He was weak. He was pretty weak already. He didn't cry, yes, but the tones of his words were some sort of cries already.

Contrary to what Ace had figured, he felt a touch on his golden hair. It was a gloved hand, Kurasame's hand. Funny, despite how cold Kurasame could be, literally or not, his hand right now felt so warm.

"Ace." Beneath his mask, Kurasame managed a weak smile, despite how Ace was unable to see through that. "As your teacher, I am very proud of you. Without you and your friends, Suzaku would never gain the victory that we always dreamed. You've done a very good job at leading your friends."

Kurasame gently rubbed his warm, comforting hand on Ace's head before he slid it down to his shoulder, patting it warmly. Even his stare now, was unusually warm.

"My part is done. From now on, it's your fight."

At Kurasame's last action and word, Ace suddenly felt something imbued inside of him. It was like… something had empowered him inside. While he wasn't able to figure that out yet, Kurasame, still kneeling, was engulfed in crystal already as Ace blankly stared at what was happening here. For a moment here, Ace forgot that Machina existed, trying his best to stand up on the side. Ace's mind was filled the memory of his dead classmates, along with Kurasame, who he had just respected on a whole new level.

No sooner, Ace figured what had happened just now. He stared for a moment at the palms of his hands emotionlessly, before rising from the same height as the crystallized teacher to stand, towering over Machina who had managed to be on his knee already. Ace felt no more anger, no more remorse, no more regret as he pulled another thick paper that he addressed as his weapon; a card. Just below his right elbow, a l'Cie brand shone brightly.

Kurasame had relinquished his l'Cie power to him.

Ace stood proudly before Machina, who was not quite as good as he was before. Approaching the beaten man, Ace stared at Machina coldly with his now red eyes. Machina gritted his teeth in anger to react to that. However, what Ace did was not what he had expected. He had expected Ace would end his life with one swift strike, and he had another expectation that Ace would torture him slowly.

Yet, the blonde used Curaga on him.

Machina widened his eyes in awe, dumbfounded. What the hell just…

"Is that an attempt to mock me, you bastard!?" Slowly, Machina felt his body get lighter. Sure, it wasn't like how healthy he was originally, but it was more than enough for him to stand and fight again. He then roughly leaned his forehead on Ace's, glaring him with every pieces of hate he had inside of him.

"No." Ace didn't at budge the moment Machina tried to intimidate him with his words or his glare. Instead, the once lifeless stare of him was now a glare, very venomous and possess a same level of hate as Machina's. "Mocking is by far, too nice for you."

A small pause as Ace's eyes narrowed even further in anger.

"I am going to kill you, Machina Kunagiri."

Just behind Ace's body, four cards were floating sharply, ready to be launched at his enemy at any given time. Machina noticed that, but he didn't move a single muscle yet.

"I am going to embarrass you. Putting you in a place that is nothing more befitting for what you have done."

As if on cue, Ace teleported back, launching the four impatient cards at the other l'Cie, while Machina rolled back, dodging the entire attack swiftly and grabbed his two swords. The dark haired man then started his rush at the new l'Cie.

"You're getting too full of yourself!"

This was it. They were once partners. They were once the bestest of friend. Now, they were nothing but bitter archenemies. They were nothing but l'Cies that hunted after each other's head.

…

Once again, the clock started to tick. As the smaller teenager sliced his hand on the thick air, three cards were hurled against the l'Cie in Byakko uniforms. Following that action, Ace approached his enemy closer in anger. As soon as the three cards touched the dark steel of Machina's sword, the l'Cie put a bit of strength to harass the cards from infiltrating the distance that he had created. As the cards were sent flying to the air, it automatically arrived at Ace's side. Once again, the two l'Cie was standing on an equal ground.

Machina panted as his glare was fixated on Ace's eyes.

"…_Rem…"_

Ace let out a heavy breath of his own, his blood-colored pupils were knifing Machina's.

"…_Everyone…"_

As they watched each other's muscles tensed, they entered their respective battle stance. Ace raised his whole 53 cards from his deck to circle around him and Machina's body was covered with subtle, orange-colored lights as he entered his Assault Mode.

Both of them inhaled a deep breath at the same time, before exhaling at the same time as well, their glares never leaving each other. At the same time as well, they charged at each other with everything they got.

"**MACHINAAAAAAAAA!**"

"**ACEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**"

As their spirits painted the crimson skies with howls, the time of judgment once again draw nears.

* * *

**Cliff hanger?**

**No! **

**Okay, this is a oneshot, presumably prequel from 'Re:Zero', a fic that I've brainstormed for a while. Oh, just want to give you guys some canon about characters' personalities, probably for inspiration and all (or because I can't simply hold it when I see a fic with OOC characters, plainly stupid, especially if just because you want to ship a character with another character). Also, I ought to thank my friends from Type-0's characters RP from tumblr and dreamwidth for hyping me up in this series. You guys are the best. No, this below is NOT headcanon. Definitely canon except if I made a misunderstanding while reading 'em. Because I am cruel, I'll only give things about the girls on this one.**

**DEUCE= Moe. OH SO MUCH. She's shy, bashful, flails-a-lot and all of that. She can be kind of stubborn when it comes to something that she believes in. Can be some sort of gossiping girls at times. Except that, she's totally submissive. I AM NOT GOING TO PUT MY SHIPPING BIAS HERE ABOUT HOW SHE WISHED TO PLAY IN A MUSICAL PERFORMANCE WITH ACE BY HER SIDE. NOPE.**

**CATER= Genki girl. Also, tsundere type B FOR EIGHT *Insert hearts here*. Really, might as well calling 84 as 'Appleshipping' or something. Doesn't get it? It require a long description so later.**

**CINQUE= Oddball, clumsy as hell. Pretty much the most… childish amongst all of them. I don't want to put another shipping bias here, but Trey was pretty much her caretaker. Cue bodyguard crush here. Yep.**

**SICE= Here is our favorite tomboy. Again, I don't want to put on another shipping bias, but it seemed that King OF ALL PEOPLE is the one that helped her tending her hair at first.**

**SEVEN= The most mature and oldest one, including from the boys. She can't say no to anyone in general, especially when there is someone requesting her.**

**QUEEN= Tsundere type A, meganekko, and bishoujo, go figure the rest. Oh, not another shipping bias—Nope, sadly, there's no shipping bias with her at all. The closest thing I can get for 9Q (my ship) is the Nine-Queen-Qu'on mishaps only. **

**REM= To be honest, she's definitely not too different from Deuce. She's nice and all that, pretty much could be considered a moe as well, with less flailing, more genki and osananajimi trait. Honestly, it was beyond me why Rem-Deuce barely got any interaction considering their personalities. *Goes on brainstorming about friendship/family fic about these two***

**Also, I am very grateful with pixiv and other Japanese fansites that keep having increase in numbers of pictures and fictions for my three OTP (A2, 35, and 84). Best of regards.**

**Lastly, thanks for reading all my musing and rant. I promise you that this fic will get a sequel, a long one that is, sometime later. Read the summary of Re: Zero in my profile for that. Ciao.**


End file.
